Christie's 8-point advantage is in line with other recent polls, but also portrays a tighter race than a month ago, when the same pollsters found Christie was 14 points ahead. And most respondents in the new poll don't believe either candidate has given a clear idea of what he'd do as governor.

The latest poll of 752 registered voters was conducted between Sept. 8-10. It has an error margin of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.